Sign of the Unicorn, chapter 5

Spoiler alert: This post is part of an in-depth discussion of Sign of the Unicorn by Roger Zelazny, which will inevitably reveal key plot points. I recommend reading the book first. It's short, I promise.

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Corwin was lured to the Grove of the Unicorn, in Arden Forest, under false pretences, where he discovered the body of his brother Caine, freshly murdered by a creature from Shadow. He broke the news of Caine's death to his brothers and sisters. It was met, variously, with indifference, acceptance, and doubt about Corwin's innocence.

Brother Gérard accompanies Corwin to the grove to get Caine's body where Corwin had hidden it. He challenges Corwin to a fight. They wrestle, and Gérard subdues Corwin, who regains consciousness to find himself being dangled over a precipice. Gérard accuses him of the deaths of Benedict's servants and Caine, putting Oberon and Brand out of the picture, and secretly allying with the enemies of Amber from the dark road. The rest of the family listens in via the Trumps. Gé relents when Corwin insists he is not guilty.

They continue to the Grove of the Unicorn, so called because Oberon claimed he had once seen a unicorn there, leading to him adopting the beast as the family symbol. They recover Caine where Corwin had hidden him. While there, they, too, see an apparition of a unicorn, and contemplate its significance.

This is the first time Gérard makes a personal appearance in this series. He is physically powerful, more so than Corwin, whose strength is considerable. It's implied he is not especially intelligent, which also suggests to me that he's without guile. Gérard was allied with Eric, and opposed Corwin in his first attack on Amber in Nine Princes in Amber. However, Corwin convinced him to back off, so it was Caine's navy alone that decimated Corwin's. Gérard was, perhaps, not entirely committed to Eric's cause, and it appears that he and Corwin called a truce, at least for now.

Corwin describes the unicorn so:

a soft, shimmering white encompassed it, as if it were covered with down rather than fur and maning; its tiny, cloven hooves were golden, as was the delicate, whorled horn that rose from its narrow head.

Usually, we think of unicorns as horned horses, which don't have cloven hooves. But in the Middle Ages, sometimes unicorns were depicted as goat-like. If that's what Zelazny had in mind, it's nice attention to detail.

This was a very short chapter, but at least it was all action after three dialogue-heavy ones. Chapter 6, this Sunday, is of a more typical length again.